YouTube star to be first female US late-night talk host in decades

NEW YORK: Major television channel NBC has tapped YouTube star Lilly Singh to helm a late-night talk show, making the Canadian the first woman to host on a US broadcast network in more than three decades.

The evening talk shows have been a mainstay of American television for more than half-a-century — but their hosts are generally white men. The late comedian Joan Rivers did host her own show from 1986 to 1988 on Fox, but that channel — unlike competitors ABC, CBS and NBC — is not known for its late-night talk programming and no longer uses the format.

Comedian Samantha Bee also hosts her own evening satire news show entitled “Full Frontal,” but it airs on the cable channel TBS and has a much smaller audience than the four national broadcast networks.